1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an apparatus, and methods for its use, which is capable of cleaning a surface by using ozone, plasma, or other excited gas. More particularly, the present invention is related to an apparatus which is capable of producing a mixture of excited gases and using that excited gas mixture to oxidize or otherwise react with contaminants on a surface, such that those contaminants can be removed from the surface, or their deleterious effect eliminated.
2. Technical Background
One challenge in many different industries has been cleaning surfaces sufficiently that troublesome contaminants are removed or their effects eliminated from the surface. In many different contexts it is necessary to provide a microscopically clean surface. This is particularly true in certain types of manufacturing and processing industries. For example, in coating processes it is often necessary to clean the surface to be coated before the coating procedure takes place. If the surface is not sufficiently clean, the coating process may be ineffective or inefficient due to surface contamination.
Use of modern adhesives may also require a very clean surface. In order to effectuate a secure bond, it is necessary to remove or modify essentially all surface contamination. It may also be necessary to activate the surface in a specific manner. Failure to do so may lead to ineffective bonding, or failure of the bond at some point in the future.
Similar cleaning is required in many other contexts. It will be appreciated, however, that the inability to effectively clean a surface can hamper manufacturing and processing procedures. Use of a contaminated surface can result in failure of parts and machinery, and ineffective coatings and bonding, as well as other problems.
Many different types of surface contaminants must be removed during processing and manufacture. Organic compounds such as greases and oils are particularly troublesome. While water soluble contaminants may be easily removed, organic greases and oils are more difficult to effectively remove. These substances tend to be more persistent in coating a surface, making thorough surface cleaning difficult, time consuming, and expensive.
In order to provide a clean surface it is conventional to use various types of cleaners. Since many troublesome contaminants are organic compounds, such cleaners often take the form of organic liquid solvents and cleaners. These solvents are employed in order to dissolve and remove oily contamination from the subject surface. It will be appreciated that other types of cleaning compounds are also known for removing other types of contaminants. However, conventional cleaning methods, whether employing detergents, solvents, or mechanical scrubbing, all suffer certain drawbacks.
Many solvents and cleaners are known to be extremely dangerous. Such solvents and cleaners are often flammable, toxic and/or corrosive. Thus, special care must be taken when using such materials, and special handling is often required in order to dispose of the spent material. In addition, many such materials are known to be environmentally harmful. Obviously, hazardous materials must be disposed of in accordance with applicable hazardous waste disposal regulations. Furthermore, some solvents, such as methyl chloroform, are suspected of causing environmental damage in the form of ozone layer depletion. As concern for the ozone layer increases, opposition to the use of chemicals such as methyl chloroform also increases.
Accordingly, use of effective solvents and cleaners is expected to become more difficult and expensive in the future. It is expected that additional environmental safety regulations will be imposed on the use of this type of material. In any event, existing environmental and safety regulation alone significantly adds to the expense and general inconvenience of using this type of material.
It would, therefore, be a significant advancement in the art to provide methods for cleaning a surface which avoid many of the problems encountered in the existing art. In particular, it would be an advancement in the art to provide improved methods and apparatus for removing contaminants from a surface or eliminating their effects, including organic contaminants. It would be a related advancement in the art to provide methods and apparatus for removing contaminants from a surface which did not rely on the use of organic solvents. More particularly, it would be an advancement in the art to provide methods and apparatus for removing contaminants from a surface which did not rely on the use of liquid materials which are corrosive, toxic, flammable, and/or environmentally damaging and which present difficulties in disposal.
It would be an additional advancement in the art to provide methods and apparatus for removing containments from a surface which do not rely on the use of detergents, or mechanical scrubbing, abrasion, or grit blasting. Another advancement in the art would be more reliable methods and apparatus for cleaning and sterilizing surfaces in the field of medicine, such as operating room surfaces, surgical apparatus and clothing, and materials to be incorporated in surgical procedures.
Such methods and apparatus are disclosed and claimed herein.